All That Is Solid Melts

All That Is Solid Melts is a sculptural installation about redefining minimalism, legislative decay and the fact that we are all temporary bodies in nature’s larger scheme of things.

In a giant petri dish a cube of black pitch is placed. Pitch, also known as bitumen or asphalt is the slowest flowing matter on Earth. The cube has the dimensions of 84,74 x 84,74 x 84,74cm, referring to the average life span of a Japanese citizen anno 2016.

The cube, a signifier of modern art, appears solid but is in fact fluid, and as time goes by, the pitch will slowly change its physical state and melt into a new formation. Finally, all there will be left is a petri dish of black matter, that can be either be left as a reminiscence of what once was, or can be forever re-casted into its original shape.

The work was first presented as part of the solo exhibition The Liquid State at 21st Century of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa. SUPERFLEX found that the famous museum building created by architect Sanaa resembled a giant petri dish culturing contemporary art - consequently SUPERFLEX based the entire exhibition around the concept of the museum as a petri dish.

All that is solid melts was first presented as part of the solo exhibition The Liquid State at 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in 2016.